There were patches of gold everywhere, and there were even large holes big enough for a person to pass through.

“Are you leaving this as it is? What if weird guys come in or go out?”

“We are continuously checking that part.”

“Isn’t it less troublesome to just repair it than to keep checking? It reduces the risk too.”

Carlos laughed bitterly.

“If that were possible, I wouldn’t have called you, and I would have solved it myself.”

“Well.”

Agreeing, Abel looked at the barrier again.

Gradually, the smile disappeared from Abel’s face.

“…….”
Carlos, with an unusually serious expression, observed Abel examining the barrier for a moment before asking, “Can you repair it?”

The reason Carlos called Abel was none other than to entrust him with the repair of the barrier surrounding the Esper Territory.

Currently, he couldn’t repair it with his own power.

He wanted to resolve it with his own strength if possible, but now it was an unavoidable choice as he couldn’t repair it with his current power.

“I think I can repair it… but there are too many broken parts, and, above all, since it’s not a barrier I created, it might take a long time to fix everything.”

“How long will it take?”

“Well, let me think.”

Abel stroked his chin for a moment and then answered, “I have to allocate at least a week. Depending on the situation, it could take longer, but it won’t exceed ten days.”

“I see.”

Fortunately, Carlos’s estimated duration was almost the same as expected.
Still, just in case, don’t hesitate to use means and methods to further restrain Dewey, who was sent from the palace and the temple for investigation.

“But there’s something I want to ask more than that.”

Abel, as if leaving something behind, looked at Carlos with his hands behind him.

The serious expression that had disappeared altogether gradually returned, and Abel’s usual playful expression came back.

“Are you at your limit right now?”

However, the gaze directed at Carlos was as serious and sharp as when confirming the barrier, surpassing the seriousness at that time.

“……. ”

Moreover, as Carlos knew what Abel meant by the limit, he was momentarily speechless but tried to play it off as casually as possible.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Abel squinted his eyes at Carlos, and then burst into laughter.

“Haha, that’s what I expected.”

And like a vulture circling around a flower, he slowly turned around Carlos.

“Even if I secretly came without sending any reply about when I would come, if it were the old you, you would have immediately detected and sanctioned the moment an outsider entered the castle. But you didn’t realize until I approached that woman.”

Abel’s actions were erratic, but his words were as sharp as a well-sharpened sword, piercing to the core.

Regardless of what Abel said, Carlos’s intention to counteract dwindled.

“Not only that, but you asked me for help to fix the barrier. Even back when there was a riot caused by the underground residents, and the Esper Territory turned into a mess, you, who claimed to handle it alone, asked me for help just to repair the barrier.”

“……. ”

“And.”

Abel, who had been circling around Carlos, suddenly attacked his left leg.

Carlos quickly moved his body backward to avoid the attack.

At the moment of retreating, the left leg lost its balance and staggered, but it was brief.

Quickly regaining composure, Abel pointed to his left leg with his chin.

“Show me.”

“……Abel.”

“Surely, I’m not hoping you’ll take it off and confirm it yourself, right?”

As if he would do it right away if Carlos wanted, Abel raised his hands and approached a step closer.

“……. ”

Carlos reluctantly lifted the hem of his left trouser, revealing the translucent leg.

“Hah.”

Having confirmed the problematic leg, Abel sighed deeply as if someone who had witnessed the world collapse and patted his dry mouth.

“Since when has it been like this? Perhaps, since the demons caused the riot? You used a lot of strength to subdue the demons back then, and after becoming translucent, you haven’t returned yet, right?”

Follow-up questions were poured out one after another.

“Just a moment. Right now, that woman is by your side. But why hasn’t it returned yet? If you took the power from that woman, your leg would have returned to normal soon, right?”

“……. ”
“I noticed earlier that the woman’s mana seemed unstable, so I thought you had absorbed it already. Was I wrong?”

Carlos, who remained silent until the end, had a suspicious look on his face for some reason.

Abel, who was carefully examining his face, suddenly asked with a bewildered expression.

“By any chance, are you… that woman?”

“It’s my problem, so don’t worry about it.”

Only when Carlos finally spoke did Abel, feeling discomfort, put on a sarcastic expression.

“You ask for my help and then tell me not to ask anything. In other words, you just want to suck up all you can and discard me. Don’t you think it’s such a heartless act?”

“…If you don’t want to help, you can refuse.”

“Huh, this guy, seriously?”

Abel clenched his fist and looked at Carlos with an incredulous expression.

“Do I really not have to help you? It might become difficult for you without my assistance.”

“It doesn’t ma…”

“By the way, just so you know, I meant that it would be difficult for that woman, not you.”

With this additional remark, Carlos closed his mouth.

“You requested my help because you didn’t want to make things difficult for her, right?”

“…But would it really be okay if I didn’t help?”